Surf backflows can occur even far away from a hurricane
From Jonathan Belles
5 hours ago
- Surf backwash can occur thousands of miles away from a hurricane.
- Hurricane Ernesto will pass far east of the US east coast.
- Dangerous conditions are possible through the weekend.
Hurricane Ernesto will remain several hundred kilometers east of the US mainland, but could have a fatal impact on the Atlantic coast: backwash.
(Ernesto’s track: Full forecast | Cards)
You may ignore a hurricane that doesn’t bring storms or rain to your planned beach, but you should know that hurricanes can ruin your plans even if they’re thousands of miles away.
In 2019, Hurricane Lorenzo killed eight people between Rhode Island and Florida, even though it passed nearly 2,000 miles away.
More than a dozen deaths in the past five years were caused by hurricanes that passed well off the East Coast. In the graphic below, you can see the locations of these deaths and the hurricane that caused them.
Hurricane Ernesto will hit Bermuda this weekend and will also cause waves on the east coast.
Stronger waves and surf are expected in the southeast through Friday, then spreading to the east coast over the weekend.
This means that there is a medium to high risk of rip currents on some Atlantic beaches until the weekend.
Wave height forecast
MORE ABOUT RIP CURRENTS:
- How to survive a rip current
– What exactly is a backwash?
– Surf backflows can also occur in the Great Lakes
